Super Commuters

[telstarbox]

Can I ask what took you out there Neil?

 

[anti-pacer]

Is that a weekly commute, though? I did Bletchley to Vevey (Switzerland) weekly for 2 years, and I've done others too. That's a different game, it tends to involve having short working days on Mondays and Fridays (or Thursdays if you do Friday from home) but longer Tuesdays and Wednesdays to make it up.

Not even weekly.

 

[MK Tom]

My friend spent several months commuting from Northampton to Glasgow on an out Monday back Friday basis changing at Coventry until he got sick of the train and switched to flying from Birmingham.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Can I ask what took you out there Neil?

Modes of transport? Car to Luton Airport, easyJet to Geneva, then a ride on one of my favourite lines (utterly stunning scenery, and I'm a fan of scenic "big railways" more than branch lines) from Geneva Airport to Vevey. Felt quite privileged to be paid to ride along there (effectively).

I started out doing taxis to the airport but changed to car after far too much iffy driving from taxi drivers who had done the night shift first and were clearly drifting off at the wheel.

 

[Bletchleyite]

My friend spent several months commuting from Northampton to Glasgow on an out Monday back Friday basis changing at Coventry until he got sick of the train and switched to flying from Birmingham.

I've done Bletchley to Edinburgh for a few months, I generally chose to do this by train as the time is more usable than a broken-up journey by air, though this did necessitate[1] travelling Sunday evening instead of Monday morning.

[1] I don't sleep well enough on the Sleeper for this to be useful for a work journey.

 

[miami]

Another one I remember is a person commuting from Ebbw Vale to a Freight TOC at Willesden on regular shift work. He drove from Ebbw Vale to Newport (pre re-opening of the line), train to Paddington and Tube to Willesden.

Very irresponsible. I thought there were rules about train drivers living within an hour of a depot.

 

[route101]

Must be people who commute from Carlisle to Glasgow/Edinburgh .

 

[wastedlife]

The other person I mentioned who commuted from Harrogate was partner level, at a big 4. Worked on the train and sent emails by the dozen on his journey down to London. Most notable in the office for loudly instructing his secretary to refill his tea cup and book his train tickets. Interspersed with "mad professor" moments of corporate tax brilliance...

PwC tax partner was telling me last year that when he joined, as a direct entry in 2009, that his peers couldn't believe he lived within a mile walk of 1 Embankment Place - apparently the most common place for PwC Partners in London to live was somewhere in Herefordshire or similar distance.

But people of that level tend to keep flats in London and return home for weekends and maybe once in the week. I've known people at Senior Manager/Director/Partner levels to commute weekly from Leicestershire, Norfolk, Yorkshire, Edinburgh to London, either on the train or into City airport. Former CFO of British Land was commuting weekly from Toulouse 20 years ago, that's nothing new!

 

[rf_ioliver]

You have to question whether this is effective use of time and whether they have to be present in person or their business could be undertaken by conference/video call ?

You'd be surprised how productive someone can be on a long commute. 2 or even more hours of not being interrupted really helps when getting through, say, writing papers, trudging through emails etc.

I had a colleague who for a few months commuted between Tallinn and Helsinki which worked out to be about 6 hour commute (ferry takes 2 hours) - he'd arrived with all of the day's programming/paperwork/emails complete and then had a day to concentrate on human interactions and good face-to-face discussions.

Personally I found commuting for a while between Helsinki and Copenhagen quite good - but this was before some of the more idiotic aspects of airport security...

t.

Ian

 

[neilb62]

Very irresponsible. I thought there were rules about train drivers living within an hour of a depot.

For new starters usually yes, didn't apply so much in the 'old days' once the 'calling distance' rule ended. And of course once you've got a job theres nothing to stop you moving.....

 

[Bletchleyite]

I had a colleague who for a few months commuted between Tallinn and Helsinki which worked out to be about 6 hour commute (ferry takes 2 hours) - he'd arrived with all of the day's programming/paperwork/emails complete and then had a day to concentrate on human interactions and good face-to-face discussions.

Depending on the job that kind of approach may well work well - say 3 days at home preparing and 2 days of on-site face to face discussion and meetings. A long commute is less of an issue if you don't have to do it all the time. London commuting tends to wear me out a bit by the end of the week (I like my sleep) but once or twice a week it's fine.

 

[Liam]

Must be people who commute from Carlisle to Glasgow/Edinburgh .

There are certainly Lockerbie-Edinburgh/Glasgow commuters, many of whom will drive from Dumfries or Annan to Lockerbie.

 

[Andrewlong]

You'd be surprised how productive someone can be on a long commute. 2 or even more hours of not being interrupted really helps when getting through, say, writing papers, trudging through emails etc.

I had a colleague who for a few months commuted between Tallinn and Helsinki which worked out to be about 6 hour commute (ferry takes 2 hours) - he'd arrived with all of the day's programming/paperwork/emails complete and then had a day to concentrate on human interactions and good face-to-face discussions.

Personally I found commuting for a while between Helsinki and Copenhagen quite good - but this was before some of the more idiotic aspects of airport security...

t.

Ian

Many years ago (1999) - I commuted from Reading to Birmingham International station and then took shuttle bus to the Business park. I was able to grab myself a table on a mark 2 coach (no awful voyagers in those days) and work on my laptop. Today it's doubtful whether I could or would want to put up with this. My office is at home and I can do everything I need from there - given my colleagues are based in London, Cardiff, Leeds, Poland and India!

 

[jamesontheroad]

I used to know a regular commuter who would travel from Parkstone (Dorset) to Waterloo, then on to Canary Wharf and back every day. He would get a 5am train up, then the 1935 back, apparently leaving him just enough time to get a cab home, check his kids were fast asleep, eat, sleep, get up and repeat.

Reminds me of this, from CBC's This is That.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eJlcF5G9qM

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

I am also pretty familiar with someone who commutes from Trowbridge to Moorgate, on 4 days per week. 0549 direct HST Trow-Padd (0748) then tube to the City, arrive office about 0815. Return journey by any one of about 4 different trains, generally getting home about 1900. Not something I could keep up for very long, especially through the Winter.

In my experience you find far more crackers commutes among railway office staff, some of whom travel long cross-country distances to avoid moving home, presumably since privatisation fragmented everything. Travel facilities / cheap season tickets also help I guess!

 

[Hassocks5489]

I'm grateful for my short commute from Hove to Worthing - as little as 11 minutes on the best train One of my friends had to commute from Haywards Heath to Cheltenham Spa for a while a few years ago (not every day though).

I had a look through my extensive collection of APTIS Season Tickets to see if I could uncover any real horrors. The most "odd" journeys I could find are not particularly long in mileage but look awkward and time-consuming: Arlesey-Maidenhead, Botley-Twickenham, Cambridge-Fleet, Falmer-South Bermondsey, Lancing-Chertsey, Cuxton-South Bermondsey, Welwyn North-Stone Crossing, Stansted Mountfitchet-Woking. All except the Stansted were Seven Day season tickets, so maybe the commuters in question only had to put up with it for a week!

 

[infobleep]

If I had a long commute I would happily work on my laptop but I find the 4G/3G/WiFi to be to flaky at times for me to do useful work. If there is WiFi it down at always work on some operators trains. If their isn't WiFi then I'm at the mercy of O2.

 

[Ianno87]

I wonder if might have been cheaper for him to rent room in a shared house Monday to Friday.

I can only imagine that he must have been waking up at around 04.00 Monday to Friday which can't have been easy.

I don't think it'd be quite that bad. Going sufficiently early would give you clear traffic around the M60 - so you could leave the house by about 0615/0620 and make the 0708 'pullman' to Euston.

 

[Busaholic]

If we're talking weekly commutes, there are people who travel from Penzance to Paddington on the Sunday sleeper, or first train Monday morning, and back on the last train Friday (or the sleeper). Some or all of them probably have a further leg when they reach London.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

If we're talking weekly commutes, there are people who travel from Penzance to Paddington on the Sunday sleeper, or first train Monday morning, and back on the last train Friday (or the sleeper). Some or all of them probably have a further leg when they reach London.

Like someone I know who worked in Birmingham and lived near St Ives - travelled up to London on the sleeper thence via Euston to a weeks work and home Friday PM on Cross Country.

Heroic

 

[RichmondCommu]

I don't think it'd be quite that bad. Going sufficiently early would give you clear traffic around the M60 - so you could leave the house by about 0615/0620 and make the 0708 'pullman' to Euston.

When I worked for an investment bank (in a senior position for what it's worth) I was at my desk for 07.00 if not before so I honestly don't know how he got away with that if indeed he did catch the 07.08.

However, having given it a bit more thought not everyone who works in the City works for an investment bank! I'd be interested to know what time he got home at night.

 

[PeterC]

When Rolls Royce made people redundant in Bristol several started commuting daily to the City.

My worst commute was Romford to Slough Trading Estate which I did by car until I gave up and moved although a colleague did the journey daily from Chingford to Burnham by train. Another commuted by rail from Harlow but ended up finding digs locally and commuting weekly. If Crossrail had been built when first planned I would still be living in Essex.

 

[All Line Rover]

When I worked for an investment bank (in a senior position for what it's worth) I was at my desk for 07.00 if not before so I honestly don't know how he got away with that if indeed he did catch the 07.08.

However, having given it a bit more thought not everyone who works in the City works for an investment bank! I'd be interested to know what time he got home at night.

It is my experience that most lawyers in the City start work around 09:30, but as there are regular late finishes (very late finishes), I don't see how a commute further than Didcot / Rugby / Kettering / Peterborough could be manageable. It's not just the journey time, but the irregular service provision beyond around 21:00 (e.g. Grantham).

 

[jfisher21]

I do Forest Hill - Coventry, two returns a week.

Out on Monday, Back on Wednesday, Out on Thursday, Back on Friday

Quite enough for me, thanks a lot!

 

[Bromley boy]

PwC tax partner was telling me last year that when he joined, as a direct entry in 2009, that his peers couldn't believe he lived within a mile walk of 1 Embankment Place - apparently the most common place for PwC Partners in London to live was somewhere in Herefordshire or similar distance.

But people of that level tend to keep flats in London and return home for weekends and maybe once in the week. I've known people at Senior Manager/Director/Partner levels to commute weekly from Leicestershire, Norfolk, Yorkshire, Edinburgh to London, either on the train or into City airport. Former CFO of British Land was commuting weekly from Toulouse 20 years ago, that's nothing new!

Yep lots seemed to commute in from the shyers. Sevenoakes seemed quite popular as it's a short trip into central London. Probably quicker point to point than many journeys originating within greater London.

People really build their lives around their commutes and office moves have a big impact. When EY relocated their financial services practice to Canary Wharf it put a lot of noses out of joint as it realistically added 30 mins to most commutes. I'd imagine PWC's partial relocation to More London from Embankment Place would have had a similar impact.

 

[All Line Rover]

Farringdon / Barbican / Moorgate / Liverpool Street is the most convenient place to locate an office. Central and accessible from all directions.

The area around Chancery Lane has character but is awkward to get to if you don't live near a Central Line or Thameslink station.

I've never liked Canary Wharf. Crossrail should at least make it more accessible. But I still won't like it.

 

[swadbus]

One of my work colleagues commutes from Stoke-on-Trent to Southwark to do either 3 or 4 night shifts a week at TFL.

An eye-watering £11k for a season ticket!

 

[AntoniC]

My brother used to do a daily commute of St Leonards Warrior Square to Stratford when he worked for Monsoon.

That was at least a 150 minute commute each way.

He only did it for a while as it cost him a fortune to travel and he was knackered by the time he got home ! - also he worked shifts as well which didnt help.

 

[All Line Rover]

One of my work colleagues commutes from Stoke-on-Trent to Southwark to do either 3 or 4 night shifts a week at TFL.

An eye-watering £11k for a season ticket!

Is it really that bad? Milton Keynes is £5k, and at least VTWC have a quiet coach (which does tend to be well respected on Manchester "peak" trains) for standard class passengers.

 

[AM9]

One of my work colleagues commutes from Stoke-on-Trent to Southwark to do either 3 or 4 night shifts a week at TFL.

An eye-watering £11k for a season ticket!

That's quite reasonable, - less than 15p per mile and only £1.36 extra per day for a full 6 zone travelcard.

A 12 month season from St Albans to St Pancras costs 37p per mile, (and there aren't the same economy houses here!).